January 22, 1998; Lake Geneva, WI. - With the 1998 oval track race season just a few months away, Lake Geneva Raceway owner and promoter Kevin Dawson met with representatives of many small car divisions for the final time, before the BARS Auto Show in March.
This was the third of these meetings. It all began last September 26th, when the first annual Small Car World Championships took place at Lake Geneva Raceway as part of the Fall Classic. One day later another Midwest track held a similar show for small cars. Both shows were a success.
With the world's fastest one third mile paved oval, sitting idle on Thursday nights, Dawson planned the first meeting back in December. A proposal, that would give many small car groups a place to race every week was submitted to the drivers. The track weekly program which runs on Saturday nights, could not bear another division of any type on a regular basis, because of time limitations so another night was suggested.
Dawson laid the cards on the table, if the groups would pay for the expenses and a percentage of the gate for rent they could run their own show. Much to Dawson and his staffs' surprise, there wasn't much interest in that option. One group even dropped their interest in the program after learning they would have to go out and do some promoting and help with the show.
There was interest however in a couple of shows to be held on early Sunday evenings. After two more meetings, the "Small Car Championship Series", was born. At the final meeting held on January 20th, 1998, another spokesperson came down from LaCrosse and the Super Mini-Cup cars joined in. Other groups electing to run as part of the series include The Sport Trucks, The W.I.N. Region Legend Series, a Baby Grands group, the Mini-Modifieds, the Rascal Outlaws and a new group of Modified, similar to the IMCA division, with a completely stock motor.
The dates for the "Small Car Championship Series" for the 1998 season will be June 7th, July 5th, August 2nd and September 6th. The small car world championship, which will not be run as part of the series but rather as the opening show for the October Classic will be held on October 2nd.
An effort to contact other small car groups will take place in the coming months. The popular Dwarf cars are one of the divisions expected to be included in the schedule. The first small car show last season drew 136 entries for it's inaugural debut.
Many of these divisions run a schedule on both dirt and asphalt throughout the summer months on tracks around the Midwest. This special series is a big boost for these type of cars. The series itself is looking for a sponsor at this time.
Any parties interested in more information on the Small Car Championship Series or businesses interested in possibly sponsoring the program should contact the raceway office at (414) 248-8566.
Further Jim Rieger from the Rascal group or John Safro from the Legend cars, are available to discuss the series. They can be reached at (414) 862-9390 or (414) 781-7711 respectively for more information.
Driver representatives that helped create this series were Jim Rieger, John Safro, Kurt and Craig Rosemann, Hermie Shultz, Duck Wack, Dan Schaut, Bill Swinford, Dennis Estes and John Besler.
Opening day for the 1998 Saturday Night racing program will be April 4th. This season four divisions will take to the track on opening night, and it will mark the first time in four years that four classes will take to the track during the opening show.
The Super Late Models, Street Stocks, Sport Trucks and the Allison Legacy cars will run during the program.
The informal kickoff for the 1998 season will be the 21st Annual BARS "Let's Go Racing" Auto Show held from March 25th through the 29th at the Lakehurst Mall in Waukegan, IL. The show which always has several cars from Lake Geneva Raceway on hand proves to be great way to get the season into gear. Drivers interested in participating should contact Mike Babicz for entry information. He can be reached after 7:00 P.M. at (847) 855-0019.